That Divine Light
by LiquidLash
Summary: When Aderyn Stephens first saw the grey greatcoat, she thought nothing of it. Then the memories began to return.
1. One

**Disclaimer:** Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones and Gwen Cooper belong entirely to Russell T Davies. Even if he does mistreat them.

**Author note:** I'm going down a completely different track with this fanfic. Come join me for the ride? I promise Jack and the diminished team (as this is set some time twixt series two and Children of Earth) will pop up eventually.

* * *

**One**

It all started with a coat.

Aderyn Stephens first saw the coat draped over a chair in the cafe in which she worked. She flicked her red hair from her face and thought, funny, not like someone to just forget a coat like that. She picked it up, feeling the heavy woollen weight. Looking around, Aderyn asked the dwindling customers, "This belong to anyone?"

There were a few murmurs of "No", "Not mine" and "Wish it did" before she gave up. Aderyn tucked the large coat into the lost property box hidden beneath the coffee bar and turned her mind to more caffeine-related matters.

-T-

"Aderyn?"

Rolling her eyes at the milk frother, Aderyn took a deep breath and braced herself the sight of Phillip Turner, boss and sleaze extraordinaire. "Yes, sir?"

"What's this?"

Aderyn followed Turner's bad suit encased arm to where he pointed. "That, sir? That's what we call a 'coat', sir."

Turner glared at her with washed out eyes, his over gelled hair having wilted during the course of the day; he looked for all the world like he had a pile of soggy leaves on his head. "But what is it doing down there?" he asked.

Try as she may to avoid it, Aderyn's gaze kept settling on Turner's hair. She bit her lips in an attempt not to snicker. The man looked ridiculous.

"Someone left it behind. I put it in the lost property box, though, yes," Aderyn said, bending a little to look under the bar, "I can see it's fallen out; it's still technically in the box. It's in a state of box-ish-ness that is not yet visible to our mere mortal eyes."

Turner's brows creased and he said, wearily, "Aderyn?"

"Sir?"

"How much of that new triple strength have you had?"

"None."

"That may be the problem then." Turner brushed some imaginary dust off his sleeve and continued, "Get yourself home, alright? You've been looking a bit out of it today. Oh, you said you'd cover for Janine tomorrow?"

"What?"

"You said you would. Don't you remember?"

Blast, Aderyn thought. Her memory was all over the place lately. "Yeah," she said, confused but giving in. "I did."

"Alright. See you bright and early, then?"

Aderyn blanched. Had she agreed to do a morning shift? Double blast! "Yeah, sure. Bright and early and wincing in the daylight, sir."

"That's the spirit!" Turner gave her what he probably thought was a friendly pat on the shoulder; Aderyn walked away resisting the urge to disinfect her jacket.

-T-

Nathan grabbed her the moment she walked through the door to their poky flat. "Hello, my sweet," he said, crushing her to his chest. "How was life as a commoner?"

"Oh, you know," Aderyn replied, trying to breathe, "common." She peered up at him and his short brown curls. "Say, do you ever get lonely on your upper-class pedestal?"

"Not really. As long as I manage to keep you captive, all is good."

Aderyn pushed away from him, picking her bag back up and climbing over the sofa to get into their bedroom. Some time ago, Aderyn and Nathan had been persuaded to purchase a rather impressive black leather sofa. Once they'd gotten it home, they realised that the only way it could fit in their tiny living room-cum-dining room-cum-kitchen was lengthways, meaning it blocked the doorway to their bedroom.

Sometimes Aderyn found herself wishing life could be easier. "Your sweet talking hasn't improved much, Nate."

"What, since this morning?" he called after her. "Give me a chance, Adie. I do try."

"I'm sure you do," Aderyn told her bag. She stopped paying attention to the scuffles of Nathan trying to rearrange furniture next door and peered closer at the suede of her shoulder bag. What were those, burn marks? How had she burnt it? And some sort of... stuff. Gloop. Brownish gloop smeared in the burn marks. She hadn't noticed before, it blended in with the material so well. Aderyn was about to go and ask Nathan if he had any idea when he stuck his head around the door and grinned at her.

"What have you done?" Aderyn couldn't help it. She knew that smile. It was the smile of 'I am completely innocent and utterly charming, fall for me while I distract you?' and she _had_ fallen for it, once upon a time. But not now. It wasn't going to work now. Not two years, five months and twenty seven days in. She wouldn't let him.

"Why do you assume I've done anything?" Nathan asked, his thick eyebrows rising in faux-hurt.

Aderyn tapped her foot.

"Yes, well, fine." Nathan vaulted lightly over the over-large couch so as to stand before her. "I just thought you might like to know I picked up a little something."

"You have, have you?"

He took her hand in his. Aderyn felt a small piece of cool metal touch her palm. "So I promised, and so I shall deliver. I hope it fits."

Aderyn looked down at their entwined hands and turned hers over to reveal the small ring.

Her lungs failed her for a long moment. "Is this— Are you— Oh my god—" Aderyn forced herself to be calm, meeting Nathan's concerned eyes. "You're asking me to marry you?" she squeaked.

Nathan smiled a confused smile. "Either you are much better at acting than I give you credit for, or you've managed to forget. I asked you two days ago, love. You said yes?"

Aderyn felt her world crash about her.

"What— what day is it?"

"Thursday." Nathan cradled her cheek in one of his hands. "Are you alright, Adie?"

"You sure it isn't Monday?" Aderyn could feel her breathing begin to stutter as panic set in.

"Quite positive. My diary would never lie to me. At least not intentionally—"

"Then no, cariad. I'm not alright." Nathan stroked her hair, asking without words. "I can't— I can't remember. Any of it."


	2. Two

**Author note:** Le gasp! Aderyn can't remember? What a crazy random happenstance! Read on, you wonderful readers, you.

* * *

**Two**

"What do you mean you can't remember? Is this about Wednesday night? You said you'd had a bit to drink, stayed over at Janine's. You can't have drank that much, though. Maybe if you'd—"

Aderyn stopped listening to Nathan. His words and prattling drifted about her head and she let them. It was a comfort, of sorts.

She couldn't _remember_. Her own _life_.

The happiness from only a few seconds before had fled, replaced with an insane dread and icy panic. Action, she needed to move; do something, anything. "Nate?"

"—small ones with orange bits at the bottom— yes, love?"

"Can we," Aderyn began, "can we go to bed? I'm tired. My head hurts."

Nathan drew her into his arms again. Her eyes just about reached the level of his shoulder, and Aderyn stared at their shared room with wide, unblinking eyes.

"Of course." He patted her hair, he was always doing that. "Do you want a painkiller or something?"

"No," she said, shaking her head against his chest. "I'll sleep it off, I think."

"If you're sure."

-T-

Aderyn dreamed of rain. A thick, chilling deluge that plastered her hair to her face and turned the world grey.

Well, grey and brown.

A forest.

Aderyn wandered through the trees, putting out a hand to keep her balance on the slippery leaves. There were flashing lights ahead. Somehow, Aderyn knew there were no roads nearby, so what could be causing the light?

Aderyn walked toward it till the pulsing illumination touched her skin, it felt warm. She relaxed into the beams.

And froze.

Someone else here. Someone in her dream. Someone sharing the warming light she'd found. How dare they? This was hers, she'd found it!

"Get away!" she shouted at the grey silhouette. "This isn't yours!"

At her words, the shape turned toward her and began to run. Aderyn wanted to run herself, to be away from the menacing grey figure, yet her feet felt stuck to the ground, her limbs heavy where the light hit and pulsated over her.

"Get away!" the figure, a man in a coat, shouted. "She isn't yours!"

He was talking to the light.

He was—

Aderyn woke with a start. She rubbed her head, thinking that maybe she ought to have taken that painkiller after all. Odd sort of dream, Aderyn told herself, as she tried to remember all that had happened.

One image stuck in her mind while all the others fled, lost to consciousness.

A coat.

_The_ coat.

-T-

The bell above the door of Cactus Coffees (Aderyn still wanted to strangle Turner for choosing such a ridiculous name) jangled. Aderyn looked up from the mug she was drying and her hands froze as she saw who had come through.

The young man in the suit gave her a quick wave before fumbling for his ringing phone. Aderyn went back to the mug at hand, wracking her brains. He looked familiar, like she were remembering him out of the corner of her mind...

"—no, I'm on my way, just picking something up. Yes, yes, I'll get your green stuff." The man closed his phone and offered Aderyn an apologetic smile.

"What can I get you?"

"I'll have three blueberry muffins and one green tea to go, please," the man said, leaning on the counter. Aderyn bent down to the cake cabinet as he continued, "and have you perchance come across a greatcoat as you've been cleaning tables?"

Aderyn stood upright again and stared at him, her mind racing. "Oh! Is that yours?"

"No, it's my boss's, but he needs it back straight away."

Something, and Aderyn wasn't sure what, made her say, "I'm afraid I can only give it to him, then. That's our policy." When the man's face fell, she added, "Sorry. Wish I could just hand it over, but I can't."

Aderyn couldn't just let this go. This man and that coat meant something, and she didn't know what. "Sorry," she said again, dumping a muffin-loaded bag on the counter and reaching around the drinks machine to grab at the herbal tea boxes.

"No, no, that's alright." He reached inside his suit jacket for his wallet as Aderyn filled a cup with hot water, leaving the tea bag hanging over the side. "How much for all that, then?"

Aderyn turned her attention back to the till. "Er. That'll be five pounds sixty, but I'll make it a fiver 'cause you smiled so nice."

The man's smile reappeared. "I'm flattered." He took the bag and the paper cup, leaving a ten pound note in their place. "Keep the change," he said.

Then he left.

Result, Aderyn thought to herself as she brushed muffin crumbs from the counter. Now to take a closer look at this coat everyone's after...

-T-

The back of coffee shop consisted of an miniature industrial kitchen where the pastries and cakes were baked, Turner's office and finally a small staff lounge. Aderyn sat on one the tattered chairs and stared at the abused, minature calendar, trying to work out where her life had gone. She was so engrossed that she did not hear Turner's cough, intent on getting her attention. Turner had to walk across the room to her and wave his hand in front of her face before she ever registered his existence.

"Wha—"

"Aderyn, I'm a bit worried about you."

Aderyn shook her head, causing her red locks to fall into disarray. She'd taken her hair out of its strict bun an hour ago. Infact, she should have gone _home_ an hour ago; for some reason, she couldn't seem to make herself leave. Aderyn tucked a strand of erratically curled hair behind her ear to look up at Turner's disapproving stare.

"Why should that be, sir?"

"This and that," Turner said, dragging up another abused chair to sir opposite her. "Mostly the fact that I've been watching you for twenty minutes and you haven't stopped staring at the wall chart."

"Sorry, not really been myself for a while."

"You did seem a bit shook up on Wednesday." Turner tilted his head. "Is everything alright? Employee welfare is an important part of Cactus, you know."

Of course it is, Aderyn thought. Especially if the employee in question is wearing a low cut top. "Nate proposed," she whispered.

Turner's smile froze for a prolonged second before he relaxed and said, "Well congratulations, then."

"Thanks."

"Having second thoughts?" From anyone else, this would have seemed a normal question. But not with Turner. Inside her head, Aderyn rolled her eyes.

"Nope."

"Right."

Aderyn stared at the wall again, it seemed like the best thing to do.

"You planning on staying here all night?" Turner prompted.

"Not entirely sure." Aderyn looked at her wrist watch and grimaced. "Tell you what, how about I lock up with the spare set of keys? Save you the hassle."

Turner smiled. "Sure. Why not? You remember the code?"

"Yep."

"Right." Turner stood. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Saturday's my day off, Stan." She'd only seen his first name once; it had stuck in her mind like glue. Aderyn knew he didn't like it, her use of it now proved how irritated she felt.

He blinked but, to his credit, said nothing more. At the doorway, he tipped his head in a mock salute. "See you later."

"Later," Aderyn murmured in return.

-T-

The clock had passed eleven before Aderyn decided to call it quits and head home.

That was when she heard the noise.

Scuffled shoes, low whispers and the occasional clunk as whoever it was collided with unsuspecting furniture in the main part of the shop.

Burglars, Aderyn thought. Just her luck. "Should have gone home," she told herself. "But no, you had to stay and practise experiencing emotional turmoil. You should be in a Jane Austen novel or something."

Aderyn tiptoe out of the staff lounge, hands sliding into her pocket to withdraw her mobile. Her fingers rested on the nine button, but she did not press it. Not just yet. Aderyn wanted to know who it was.

She concentrated. Two different sets of whispers reached her ears: both male, one Welsh, one American. She thought she recognised the cadences, they niggled at the edges of her mind, trying to be remembered. Aderyn shook her head again. Concentrate, she had to concentrate.

Hugging the shadows, Aderyn edged onto the shop floor.


	3. Three

**Three**

Orange lamplight streaked through the main window, illuminating great swathes of the coffee shop. Aderyn could hear the two men moving about, their voices drifting across in half-darkness. She followed the wall around a corner and crouched down behind a chair to get a better look.

"Well, technically it _is_ theft," the Welshman said.

The other man put his hands on his hips. "I don't care, I want it back."

"Why couldn't you have just—" the Welshman began. "Ah. No, of course not."

"Exactly," said the American. "There's no way I could have come here." He bent to look under another table. "What if just seeing me had tripped the retcon?"

"Yes. That is rather a predicament," the other man agreed, "but breaking and entering? Really?"

"I want my coat."

"You sound like a sulky child."

"Sulky children get what they want, Ianto. You checked under the bar?"

As the taller, American man moved on to looking behind the sofa-chairs, Ianto walked toward the coffee bar, lifting the hatch and sliding through. He saw the coat tucked away beneath the till and grabbed at it, holding it aloft for the other man to see. "Found it!" he announced.

Then his eyes fell on Aderyn.

Aderyn felt her hands grow clammy, a tingling chill spreading down the back of her neck. "It's you," she whispered.

"Er, Jack..." said Ianto.

The American, Jack, appeared and leant on the bar, hands open and waiting for the coat. "What?"

Ianto passed him the coat, pointed at Aderyn and said, "Problem."

Jack's eyes flicked toward Aderyn, his face lit by the orange light outside, and their gazes met. A bright and brilliant pain shot through Aderyn's head and she gasped, doubling over.

"Shit."

"Exactly my sentiments," the man called Ianto said.

"Get her up," Jack commanded. "Quickly, we have to get her out of here before—"

Aderyn began to scream, clutching at her head under the onslaught of memory.

"_Get away! She isn't yours!"_

The light: the whitest of lights, so painfully bright and burning straight through the whole of her.

"_Hey, sweetheart, what's your name?"_

Arms around her. It hurt, everything hurt.

"_Aderyn..."_

The whiteness clawed its way up her throat, robbing her of speech as it stole her mind.

"_My name's Jack. I'm going to get this thing out of you, understand?"_

Nothing. Just intense pain and paralysing fear. Aderyn _was_ nothing.

"_We have her now. Through her we will have you all."_

The memories cut off for a merciful second and Aderyn drew in a ragged breath only to choke as vomit flooded her mouth. She just about heard Ianto shout "Jack!" before the memory of the past two days dragged her back under again.

-T-

Monday. It had all started with a coat.

"Hey, this yours?" Aderyn asked. The man in question paused at the doorway of the coffee shop.

"Shoot! Yeah," he said in an American drawl, "that one's mine. Thanks."

"No problem." She handed it over, enjoying the wink he at tipped her. "Be careful with it, yeah? I'd hate for you to lose it."

"Know what?" The man stopped, holding the door open. "So would I!" And then he left, walking outside toward an ostentatious black SUV, getting in and driving away.

-T-

"Alright, just breathe," Jack's voice coaxed. "Try to breathe, Adie." But she couldn't. The little air Aderyn managed to force into her lungs escaped immediately as a strangled scream and hysteria added itself to the whirlwind of emotions and pains that thrummed through her body.

-T-

Tuesday. Aderyn drove home in the rain. Through the water running in rivulets down her windscreen, she caught sight of a familiar car ahead on the almost deserted road. The guy with the coat, Aderyn thought, and that devilish smile—

She shook her head, not allowing her mind to wander. There were more important things to think about, mainly the fact that she was driving in horrid weather, but also that Nathan had finally popped the question today. Aderyn let the glow of that moment flood through her. So happy, so peaceful.

Up ahead, the black SUV tumbled off the road and into the undergrowth, hurtling toward the trees. Aderyn's foot slammed down on the brake without instruction from her brain and she stared in shock at the car as it narrowly avoided tree after trunk and vanished into the murky gloom of the forest.

As ever, Aderyn's curiosity got the better of her. Indicating left, she drove down the shallow embankment and parker her car just outside the trees, not facing her chances inside. Whoever was driving that SUV was a maniac.

Pulling her jacket closer around her, and grabbing her purse as an afterthought, Aderyn began to follow the larger car's tire marks.

-T-

"Put this under her head," Ianto said. Aderyn's eyes were jammed shut, so she didn't see the affronted look Jack gave Ianto as the Welshman passed down the greatcoat, nor did she see the eyebrow Ianto raised at Jack in return, clearly saying 'this is your fault, now deal with the consequences'.

Slowly, Aderyn began to calm. Her ribcage rose and fell with more even breaths as she watched her memories return within the confines of her eyelids.

-T-

Strange lights ahead as she wandered through the murk. Aderyn could hear vague shouts, cries of pain and anger:

"Get back!" an American voice yelled. Aderyn recognised it as the man from before. "Don't let it touch you!"

Aderyn heard footsteps. "What about you?" another voice shouted back at him. Local boy, Aderyn thought, noting the accent.

"See this?" He hissed an intake of breath. "Yeow, doesn't like me, does it?"

"I'll bet your ego's suffering," the Welshman deadpanned.

Aderyn edged closer, wanting to see. The lights grew brighter and more ethereal with every step she took. Hypnotic, she thought.

Then Aderyn stepped out into the clearing and became transfixed. So beautiful, so bright. Her skin warmed where the light touched it, dissipating the rain induced chill. Aderyn took a deep breath and felt the warmth flow into her mouth, down her throat and flood her lungs. It felt exquisite.

"Hey!" the American voice shouted. Her head whipped around. How could she share this? This was hers!

Aderyn froze. Who's thought was that? She had no claim on the light...

But the light had a claim on her.

* * *

**Author note:** Come on, you _know_ Ianto and Jack are practically a married couple... Also, I am beginning to feel quite cruel about what I'm putting Aderyn through, but oh well!


	4. Four

**Author note: **Apologies for the lack of updates but real life has been dragging me down. Enjoy!

* * *

**Four**

"This isn't yours!" Aderyn's mouth shouted at the man advancing on her. His grey coat flapped behind him as he drew near, unperturbed.

"Get out of her!" he yelled.

"Never," came the reply, forced through Aderyn's lips. "She is ours."

The ethereal source of light behind the American man whipped out, tendrils of illumination catching at his feet and forcing him to the ground.

"Jack!" the other man shouted.

"Stay back, I said!" Jack cried at him. "Don't you _dare_ let it touch you!"

Jack lunged forward, disentangling himself from the strands of light to catch at Aderyn's feet, making her fall. The hard jolt as she hit the ground cleared her head for an infinitesimal second.

"Help me," Aderyn pleaded.

The man, Jack, shimmied across the ground to hold her head, check her pulse. "Hey, sweetheart, what's your name?"

She could barely reply, the Light was taking over again. "Aderyn," she whispered. The searing white groped back up her throat, stealing her voice and her mind.

"My name's Jack," Jack said. "We're going to do all we can to get this thing out, understand?"

Aderyn couldn't respond. Sight and sound reached her in the mental prison the Light had constructed, but there was no way out, no way to plead.

"We have her," the Light in Aderyn's mind said through her mouth. "And by this body we will have you all."

"I'm going to stop you, you let her go!"

Aderyn's face smiled sweetly, then the tendrils from before wrapped around Jack's elbows and dragged him backward across the forest floor.

Aderyn fought so very hard to stop the Light from making her body stand. She pushed and pulled and screamed and tore, but could only watch helpless as her foot lashed out at Jack's head, knocking him unconscious.

"Jack!" the other man cried again. Aderyn's head turned toward the sound, catching sight of the man's silhouette behind the SUV. For a long second, the Light pondered taking the young man as well... but no, the female was a perfect host. They needed no other, not just yet. The Light raised Aderyn's arms, beckoning at the tendrils.

"Come," the Light murmured. "We shall leave this place of wood and water."

-T-

"Aderyn? Aderyn, can you hear me?"

Aderyn's eyelids blinked sluggishly, but she didn't reply. What had _happened_ to her?! The Light, stealing her body and making its heinous plans... she'd been trapped. A prisoner in her own skin. Her body, stretched out on the coffee shop floor and streaked with sweat and vomit, shuddered as she remembered.

"Jack, where's that light coming from?"

"Oh shit."

-T-

"Aderyn? Adie, can you hear me?"

Nathan, she thought. Oh please, not Nate. Don't let this take him too.

"Hello Nate," the Light said, taking the name from Aderyn's pleas. "Sorry, had a lot on my mind."

Nathan lifted his arms, smiling sweetly and beckoning her forward. "Quite right too, my dear wife-to-be."

Wife, the Light noted. What strange relationships you humans lead, so exclusive!

Touch him and I'll kill you, Aderyn returned.

The Light moved her body forward, settling into Nathan's offered embrace. Aderyn seethed in her prison. So warm, thought the Light. He's so full of life it almost seems a pity to put our plans in motion.

Aderyn could not stop the spark of hope rising. You'll stop, then? she thought at the Light.

The Light laughed and said, We did say 'almost'.

-T-

"Ianto, we need to get her out of here," Jack said, gathering the limp Aderyn in his arms. Her shallow breaths and fluttering eyelids did not bode well, nor did the faint glow beginning to seep from her skin.

"I'll help—"

"No!"

Ianto flinched.

"No, I'm sorry, Yan. I told you before, if it touches you, it'll spread."

Ianto lifted the hatch on the counter, letting Jack and his load through. They manoeuvred their way through the chairs and tables to reach the shop door. Ianto held it open for Jack, saying, "But not you?"

"51st century physiology, I guess." Jack lay Aderyn across the back seat of the SUV, pulling a few of the seat belts across to stop her from falling off. "Or maybe it's the whole 'I can't die' thing."

Ianto snorted. "That could be a deciding factor, yes."

-T-

Tuesday night. The Light made love to Nathan with Aderyn's body while Aderyn, still imprisoned, shrieked and riled, cursed and cried, begged and sobbed.

-T-

"She's moaning, Jack."

Jack turned his head for one moment to look at Aderyn on the backseat, noting the way she thrashed. He was glad he'd put the seatbelts around her. "She saying any clear words?"

Ianto undid his own seatbelt and leant back, making himself close enough to hear yet ensuring no skin contact was made. He stared at Aderyn's twitching mouth with an expression of confused concern. "She's saying 'no' over and over, mixed in with multiple 'stop's and I think I just heard a 'please don't'."

Jack's eyes darkened as he looked out at the road before them.

-T-

Wednesday morning. The Light kissed Nathan goodbye with Aderyn's lips and went to explore. Picking over Aderyn's still struggling mind, it found words and places significant to its purpose.

Turnmill Nuclear Power Station.

Perfect.

What are you going to do? Aderyn demanded.

Adoring the control it had, the Light said out loud, "We need energy to survive. Your body catalyses enough for one initial host, but it will not be enough to sustain our species."

What the hell are you talking about?

"Silence, little prisoner. Sit back and enjoy the ride."

-T-

Aderyn found her mouth and groaned. Light danced and seared across her vision and she could feel the rumble of en engine beneath her. "What's going on?" she gasped.

"Don't you worry," Jack told her. "We'll get you sorted soon enough, just sit back and relax. It'll be over soon."

"The Light hurts," croaked Aderyn, "it hurts so much— ah!"

Ianto turned around in his seat. "We know it does, Aderyn. Just hold tight."

The two men exchanged a dark look while Aderyn continued to writh on the back seat. They didn't like to lie, but what alternative did they have?


	5. Five

**Author note:** So I'm doing another A level in my gap year and it takes me over an hour to get to the place. It's mad. I'm filling up all my notebooks trying to write the plot ideas that occur to me as I'm travelling and this chapter all got written on the bus today. Yay for public transport!

As ever, reviews are love.

* * *

**Five**

Wednesday night.

It was all too easy for the Light to slip past the defences at Turnmill – break a circuit here, flood a bit of energy there. Soon the humans were running around like headless chickens (the Light laughed at the image Aderyn unwillingly provided) and the Light had gotten past three of the security doors when a hand clapped on Aderyn's shoulder.

"End of the line," said a man's voice. Aderyn remembered it as Jack's from the previous night. The man who'd tried and failed to help her.

"You with your words," said the Light. "You're all talk."

Jack grinned. "You want less words and more action? Fine by me." He pulled out an object Aderyn vaguely recognised as a stun-gun. Aderyn and the Light both felt the sharp shock run through Aderyn's body, an enveloping darkness rushing in its wake.

-T-

On the back seat of the SUV, Aderyn sat bolt upright, arms grasping for anything they could find, anything solid and real. For the sake of maintaining road safety, Ianto was glad the time had passed midnight and no other cars were on the road: Jack's yell of surprise as Aderyn's hands seized his shoulders, and the subsequent dangerously wide veer as he lost control of the steering wheel could have made Torchwood look bad.

Oh, and if anyone had gotten hurt, there'd be so much paperwork...

As it was, and in true Arthur Dent style, the only injury sustained was the bruise to Ianto's upper arm as the car jolted.

"Ow," Ianto said, rubbing his arm.

Aderyn ignored him, her hands now holding onto the back of Jack's chair in a death grip. "You stunned me," she gasped. "It hurt!"

"Yeah," said Jack, "you weren't exactly—"

"Stunned us. You cannot and you will not stop our plans—" Aderyn made a strangled noise, both men turned to look at her as she attempted to stare in shock at her own mouth. "You said, Jack!" shouted Aderyn. "You said it would go!"

"Well, I thought it would! It's not my fault you went ahead and remembered!"

Ianto coughed.

"Button it, Yan."

"Right-o , sir."

"Aderyn," said Jack. "We're nearly back at the Hub. We'll try and get you sorted then. You remember the Hub, right?"

-T-

Jack banged on the plexi-glass and Aderyn's body jumped backward. Involuntary reactions were new to the Light. It clenched Aderyn's fists, frustrated.

"We will get out."

"Go on then," said Jack.

They stared at each other, Aderyn's eyes ablaze and Jack's expression steely.

The Light blinked first. Jack smirked, jutting out his chin and folding his arms. "If you leave that body now," he said, "we'll put you back through the Rift, no harm done."

"The Rift?"

"How you came to this planet."

"The White Space? You would just send us back?"

"You could call it that, and yeah, we would. If you leave her."

"What if we refuse?"

Don't refuse, Aderyn chanted inside her head. Just get out of me, please.

"What if we refuse?" the Light asked again, stretching Aderyn's lips in enunciation.

"You have one chance." Jack leaned on the glass, pressing his forehead close so that the Light could see his eyes. "I don't forgive easily. Why did you come here?"

"It wasn't our choice! Came here by accident, your planet is so rich with life, and the chemicals burning in this body... just what we needed." The Light moved closer to the cell door, hooking Aderyn's fingers through the air holes. A tiny plume of what looked like glowing mist drifted out from her hand and to touch Jack's skin. "But not you," said the Light as Jack moved away from the tendril. "You're _wrong_, you are"

-T-

The car pulled up in some dingy underground garage. Aderyn barely noticed it, too busy watching her memories return on the inside of her eyelids. Her body no longer thrashed, her mind was somewhat at peace.

Now if she could just stop glowing, everything would be hunky-dory.

Jack came around the SUV to help her out. Aderyn's legs trembled when they hit the tarmac floor.

"You tasted wrong," Aderyn told Jack as she relived that particular memory. "To the Light, you were wrong."

"First time for everything," Jack said, tipping a wink at Ianto. It took Aderyn a long second for the penny to drop, then she blushed.

"Jack, she's been overrun by a parasitic light-form alien," said Ianto. "There's a time and a place."

Aderyn started to laugh, stopped, and stared at her hand gripping the SUV door handle. "Oh no," she moaned in a whisper. "Not again, no..."

"Come on." Jack tugged at her other hand, ignoring the tendrils of light that swept over his exposed skin.

"It's taking over again," Aderyn whimpered. "Please don't let it, please."

"We're trying our best, but you need to come with us. Let go of the car."

"I can't!"

Jack let out a huffy breath. "Right. Ianto. New plan."

"Call Gwen?"

"Who's Gwen?"

"Those with aliens inside them don't get to ask the questions," said Ianto.

"For a given definition of 'inside' anyway," added Jack.

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Jack."

"What?"

"Time. And. Place."

"Baby, it's always the time and place..."

Aderyn made a gagging noise, managing to turn it into a cough. Jack let go of her hand and stared her in the now-glowing face. "Like he said," said Jack, "you don't get to ask questions."

Aderyn scowled, head beginning to pound in a sickeningly familiar way, hand still holding tight to the handle. "Who's Gwen, please?" she tried, slavering the words with as much tired sarcasm as she could muster.

"Better," began Jack.

"But still no," finished Ianto. He graced her with a small smile.

"Plan, Ianto. Go and get the Light's pod/ship thing –it's sealed up next to my desk – then check the Rift predictor, tell me when and where the next one is going to be." Jack made a shooing action with his hands and said, "I'm hoping for soon."

"On it."

Ianto disappeared through a dark doorway, leaving Jack and Aderyn alone in the murky room. Aderyn scuffed the floor with her feet.

"You could clean up a bit," she said, at a loss for anything useful to say. This was all her fault.

"The people, if you want to call them people, we usually bring in this way tend to be past caring." Jack pulled up a bucket, sitting and watching Aderyn tug at her death grip on the car door.

"You could help," Aderyn said pointedly.

"I could, sure. Would breaking your arm help at all? You'd let go then." Jack inspected his nails.

"Thanks," said Aderyn, giving the hand one final tug.

Jack flashed her a grin and said, "Welcome." Then he turned serious again. "It's going to spread. You're going to lose control soon and then we won't be able to stop it unless we... well. It'll be grim, trust me on that."

Aderyn watched him finger the leather of the gun holster on his hip and she repressed a fress shudder. The light on her skin seemed to shudder too, rippling across the exposed flesh.

"Can't you do what you did last time?" she demanded. "With the machine and that forgetting pill? Wouldn't that work again?"

Sadly, Jack said, "No."


	6. Six

**Author note:** This chapter is dedicated to Rachel who keeps me sane, for a given value of sane anyway. Maybe on _average_ she keeps me sane, if we ignore the outliers and concentrate on the median...

I digress. Onward with the chapter!

**

* * *

Six**

The Light forced Aderyn's eyes to open though sleep dragged them down. That man, the one who called himself Captain, stood in front of the cell, and the Light could see the other, Ianto, hovering by the outer door.

"Past midnight now," said Jack, noting the yawn that tugged at Aderyn's lips. The Light snapped her jaw shut. "Tired, are we?"

"The host tires, we do not," replied the Light.

Ianto's voice drifted across the room. "Do you even know who she is?"

The Light turns Aderyn's head in his direction, fixing him with a burning look. "It doesn't matter," the Light said simply.

Ianto met Aderyn's eyes unblinkingly. The Light had to look away.

-T-

Aderyn could literally feel her control slipping away again, the loss emanated from her hand, tearing away her senses, shredding her nerves. She couldn't help the cry that escaped her lips, nor the tears that stung her cheeks.

"I don't want this," she told Jack, who was watching her with heavy eyes.

"No one ever does."

"It was horrible, being trapped inside."

"I know."

There was something in the way he said it. Aderyn found herself looking at him anew. He picked at his fingernails with renewed vigour, ignoring her inquisitive stare.

The internal garage door flew open and Ianto staggered through, weighed down by a large, sealed box.

"Don't get up," said Ianto, heaving the box across the room and putting it down by Jack's feet. "Wouldn't want to trouble you."

Jack was about to reply; Aderyn's shriek cut him off. Her hand wrenched itself from the door handle and her legs began to totter, obviously not under her control. She collapsed to the floor, kicking wildly and cursing as hard as she could.

-T-

"Since you won't leave her willingly," said Jack as he paced outside Aderyn's cell, "we'll have to take action."

"Don't you understand? We cannot leave her, to leave is to perish!"

"You survived in your ship," said Ianto from the doorway. Jack wouldn't let him get any nearer. "Get out of her body and back into that, then we chuck you back through the next available Rift spike, back where you came from, if you're lucky. Simple."

"We don't have to do as you say," said the Light.

"How long can you survive without a host or your ship?" Jack asked. "Just out of interest, you understand." He leaned against the plexi-glass again. "Not that long, I'll bet.

The Light just snarled.

Ianto moved then, coming forward to slip a small round shape into Jack's outstretched hand. A bottle, Aderyn told the Light. A water bottle, that's all.

Jack bent down and pushed the bottle through the slot at the bottom of the cell door. It made a sloshing sound, rolling across the floor to hit Aderyn's right foot. The Light furrowed Aderyn's brows, gaze flicking from the bottle to Ianto and finally resting on Jack.

"Drink it," said Jack, his tone clipped. "Drain it."

"Do we have a choice?"

"No," said Ianto.

The Light picked up the bottle, twisting off the cap with shaking hands. Aderyn, roiling in her mental prison, noted the slight bitter tang as the Light gulped down the liquid.

Drugged, she thought.

"Drugged," said Aderyn's mouth. A split second later the Light demanded, "Drugged?"

Neither Jack nor Ianto noticed anything amiss. They hadn't heard the difference in voice or seen the way the Light glared, and they couldn't know how Aderyn rejoiced inside her head, couldn't imagine the ferocity with which the Light forced her back down.

"Drugged," said Jack. "Just a mild sedative. Hardly anything to worry about."

"What will you do to us?" slurred the Light. "What's going to happen to me?"

Jack started, "Well, we're just going to—" but Ianto cut him off, ignoring Jack's protest and moving to stand between him and the cell.

"What did you say?" asked Ianto.

"I asked what you will do to us," said the Light. Aderyn's body swayed.

"I thought you..." Ianto shook his head and backed off. "Never mind, it's nothing."

Jack gave him a funny look as Aderyn's vision began to cloud over. Inside her head, the Light flailed, not comprehending the slow loss of control.

How the roles do reverse, Aderyn thought smugly.

The Light thought nothing.

While her consciousness fled, Aderyn thought she heard Jack say, "I'll carry her up. You get the machine ready."

-T-

Jack and Ianto stared at Aderyn writhing on the floor, wisps of light beginning to trail from her finger tips.

Ianto said, "I'll just put this into the car, shall I?"

Jack nodded mutely. He tried to concentrate on the peculiar way in which Ianto grappled with the heavy box, trying not to crease his suit, trying not to give in and ask for help, but he couldn't. Instead Jack found his attention drawn solely to Aderyn's wide, pleading eyes.

He knew that look. It was a desperate plea. It said, _I want this to be over, please, just end it._ Jack knew that look, he'd pleaded with many in his time, begging for the end. He knew that look.

Jack moved from his seat in a move so lithe that Aderyn would have been shocked had she seen, and he knelt beside her, gathering her twitching hands in his, holding her gaze. Softly, he said, "Come on, get up. Little way to go yet."

Aderyn felt her breathing relax and, with Jack's help, she managed to make herself stand again. He helped her into the passenger seat, went around the car and got in himself. Ianto waved them off.

-T-

Free.

Freedom.

Silence inside her head.

But wait—

"Cachu," said Aderyn. "Merde! Ah, my head... Bollocking bastard on a stick, that hurts..." Aderyn trailed off, aware of eyes watching her. She raised her head.

"Welcome back," said Jack.

From behind a computer to her left, Ianto said, "Shout a bit louder? I think some of the air beside my head hasn't turned blue yet."

Aderyn started to laugh. The sounds turned hysteric and were replaced by sobs. Tears streaked her cheeks: she cried for the pain and the confusion, the loss and the betrayal – for the bittersweet taste of freedom. Ianto moved toward her but Jack waved him away. He crouched by the chair that held Aderyn fast, began to undo the ties holding her.

"Is it over?" Aderyn whispered.

"Hopefully," said Jack. That was all he would say.

Later on, when Aderyn was safely entrenched on the sofa, coffee mug snug in her hands, eyes wide as she stared around the Hub, they explained everything: how they had used their mind probe to trap the remnants of the Light somewhere deep in her subconscious, how it wouldn't be permanent unless Aderyn forgot.

All those days. All those happy moments. All those nightmares.

"I'll do it."

Jack patted her shoulder, handed her a tiny white pill.

-T-

Jack tapped his headset, hands returning quickly to the driving wheel so as to keep weaving through the traffic. Saturday night in Cardiff: getting around was never going to be easy. "Ianto, any news on the Rift spike?"

"_Yessir, we have one predicted not half a mile from the original site. Sending you coordinates now."_

"You're a godsend, Yan."

"_I try my best."_

Jack turned his head to the side for a moment. "How you holding up, Aderyn?"

"Call me Adie."

"How are you holding up then, _Adie_?"

Aderyn lifted her hand. It curled into a fist as they watched.

"That's good, right?" asked Jack.

"Yeah," said Aderyn, "see, no, 'cause I'm not actually doing that."

"Ah."

Aderyn twisted her lips, watching the hand. Jack forced himself to pay attention to the road.

"What's the Rift?" she asked suddenly, forcing the writhing hand into her lap. "You and the Light both mentioned it before, I was wondering."

"The Rift," mused Jack. "Where to begin?"

Jack indicated left on the dashboard, and they turned onto a road out of the city. The traffic around them dwindled. Aderyn watched the street lights diminish in number while her skin glowed anew.

"The Rift is like a fissure in time and space, and it runs straight through the centre of Cardiff," Jack explained. "Things come through – fall through – every now and then."

Aderyn nodded, staring out of the window. "The Light called it the White Space?"

"There are lots of names for it. We at Torchwood just call it the Rift."

"And things come through? What kind of things?"

"Alien things."

Aderyn paused before slowly saying, "Right."


	7. Seven

**Author note:** It's the last chapter, people! (or at least I think it is...) and I'd like to thank everyone who has stuck with this story however trippy it got. Cookies for you all. Please review, I'd love to know what you think. Oh, and if anyone's interested, I've done a drawing of Aderyn. Link to my deviantArt (and the drawing) is on my profile.

* * *

**Seven**

"You're taking this amazingly well," remarked Jack as the SUV drove off the road and into the low shrubbery surrounding it. "No shock on your face or anything, it's quite refreshing."

Aderyn laughed. "There's no reason not to believe it, though. I can see where the Light came from, I looked into its memories just as much as it looked into mine."

Jack asked, "What else did you see?"

"It was on the run," said Aderyn. "The Light, it was running away. It escaped to here, through the White— sorry, the Rift."

"You caught all that?"

"I didn't have much else to do, trapped inside," Aderyn said wryly.

The GPS on the dashboard bleeped. "We're here," said Jack. He hit the brakes, the tyres stopped, throwing up a short shower of mud.

"Delightful," said Aderyn.

Jack got out of the car, walked around to help Aderyn totter out then went to the boot, heaving out the padlocked box. "Hey, it's your country," he said.

"Don't remind me."

-T-

"Remind me of the plan again?"

"We'll take you back home, you swallow that little pill and wake up sometime this afternoon, free as a bird."

Aderyn followed Jack through the Hub's cogwheel. For a moment she thought she caught a flash of movement near the roof high above. A screech echoed.

"Er, what was that?"

"Pterodactyl."

Aderyn blinked at him. From the main body of the Hub, hidden behind a bank of computers, Ianto said, "Technically it's a pteranodon."

Jack rolled his eyes. Aderyn couldn't help the grin that tugged at her lips. A thought occurred to her as she listened to Jack and Ianto's banter...

"You can't take me home."

Jack turned on her, the lift door open. "What?"

"Nathan's there, I don't want to know what he'd think about all of this—" Aderyn gestured around her "—or what it would look like. And anyway I have to work today."

"You're thinking about work now?" Jack's expression was disbelieving. He hit a button on the side of the wall and the lift began to ascend with a faint whirr.

"Why shouldn't I? I want to feel normal again."

"Hmm." They stepped out of the lift. Jack asked, "What time does your cafe open?"

"Half-nine."

"And what time is it now?"

"Half-six."

-T-

Aderyn perched on an mossy log, watching the sun rise through the trees and early morning rain. "I haven't seen six in the morning for a while," she said conversationally.

Jack continued to pace around, wrist strap bleeping, like he was looking for something. "I think I see it too often."

"This job not come with regular sleeping patterns, then?"

"No," said Jack, laughing a little, "it doesn't. Not that I sleep that well anyway."

"Make a habit of chasing after girls in the moonlight, do we, Jack Harkness?"

Jack quirked an eyebrow. "Who said anything about girls?"

Aderyn snorted.

"Laughing at me?"

"Most definitely."

Aderyn watched him traipse through the bracken, then Jack let out a whoop, tapping at his wrist strap and spinning in circles.

"What?" said Aderyn.

"Nearly time. Come on, let's have a closer look at Light's ship-pod-thing." Jack bent down, unlocked the box and pulled out something that made Aderyn's eyes bug wide.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

The pod looked to be made of clear glass, metal and pieces of ore ran through it, sparkling oddly in the dawn's light. Without thinking, Aderyn reached out a hand to touch it. A sharp shock jolted through her chest and the Light inside reared.

Jack blinked. "What just happened?"

"Give it to us," commanded the Light. Aderyn shook her head. "Get it away!"

-T-

Aderyn glared at Jack's turned back as he fiddled with various intricate pieces of metal. "But you can't!"

"I can," said Jack, voice muffled because of the precision tool in his mouth, "and I am."

"I'm going to call Nathan."

"And tell him what?" Jack rounded on her. "What will you tell him?"

"Just that I was out drinking." Aderyn shrugged and said, "I could say I stayed the night at Janine's."

"Janine," repeated Jack.

"A friend," said Aderyn, scrolling through her phone for Nathan's number. She sent him a text, not wanting him to hear the wobble in her voice and Jack returned to the lock, giving it a final twiddle before slowly pushing the door open. Aderyn frowned at him. "What about the alarm?"

"You have an alarm?"

Aderyn raised a palm to her face while Jack hastily fiddled with the buttons on his wrist strap. "Sorted," he said. "Now let's get you inside."

Aderyn took Jack into the back room, seating herself on a tattered chair. Jack paced. Aderyn counted to thirty then took out the small pill they had given her.

-T-

"You have to take it," said Jack, holding the pod out the glass creation to her as she backed away. "Force the Light back into it!"

"I can't, Jack!"

She couldn't.

The realisation hit her then. There was no way out; there was _never_ going to be a way out.

Aderyn was stuck with the Light, losing control inch by inch.

But she couldn't let it end like this.

"Give me the pod," said Aderyn. Jack passed it to her, feeling more than seeing the jolt that ran through her body. Aderyn trembled like she'd been stuck with frayed wiring. "When did you say that Rift spike or whatever was going to be?"

"Soon," said Jack. "A few minutes."

There could only be two outcomes: kill or be killed. No way out.

"I'm ready," said Aderyn.

She couldn't let the Light take over, not again.

Kill.

Be killed.

They were one and the same.

Aderyn watched the rain fall from branch to branch, tree to ground, and wondered where her life had gone.

"Can you tell Nathan?" Aderyn asked. "Can you tell him what happened to me?"

Jack fixed her with a confused expression. "You can tell him yourself."

"Of course, yeah, sorry." Aderyn brought her hand up and kissed the tiny band of metal around her finger, feeling its coolness as it brushed her lip had her resolve trembled. "Silly of me."

"Ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Jack smiled wryly, reaching to pat her shoulder. His touch burned. "You'll be fine. Get the Light back into its pod-thing, and this will all be over."

-T-

"What did you call it?"

"Retcon."

"It's a catchy name, I'll give it that," said Aderyn, fingering the white tablet. "Forget all your troubles, eh?"

"Something like that," Jack said wryly. He sat opposite her, handed her a glass. Aderyn took it and swallowed the pill, draining the water.

As Jack began to rise, Aderyn grabbed at his sleeve. "How much will I lose? How much time?"

"It's Thursday now. This strength Retcon will wipe about three days."

Aderyn nodded. She clutched her head, feeling a wave of nausea rise.

"It's going to be like that, sorry," said Jack. He propped her back up in the seat. "With any luck, you won't ever see me again, and I really hate to say that."

Aderyn gave a breathless laugh.

Jack left, locking the doors behind him. Later on, when Turner arrived, he found Aderyn snoring in the back room and, with a tenderness that would have shocked Aderyn, he let her rest.

-T-

All over. All over. "All over," she whispered. "Good." _Finally._

A golden mist flared amidst the trees, serenaded by the insistent bleeping of Jack's wrist strap. The Light flickered deep within Aderyn, a lash across her mind and vision, searing her consciousness to the bone. She grunted, doubling over onto her knees, pod clutched tight to her chest.

"Aderyn?"

"Now," she gasped. "Now, get me closer, I— ahgod!" Aderyn's breath caught in her throat, curling and conspiring. She couldn't draw air into her lungs: they weren't her lungs anymore. "You will not do this," came the harsh voice of the Light. "We will not be vanquished so easily!" Aderyn forced the Light down, taking control as much as she could. "Jack, god, please, Jack, don't let it, please you can't— cannot do this! We will defeat you! We will rise! We will— won't let you, can't let you, Jack, please! Make it stop!"

Solemn, serious and businesslike, Jack stood Aderyn up, looked her firmly in the eye till she calmed.

A moment passed between them, and Aderyn realised Jack knew as well; he knew it would always end like this, he'd just tried his best to prolong the outcome. Wreathing between Aderyn's ribs, the Light shuddered and shook, trying to tear a way out through her heart.

Too late, thought Aderyn. My heart is long broken.

"Thank you," she murmured, tears streaking her cheeks as Jack slowly walked her backward.

"I'm sure that's my line."

Aderyn hitched a laugh. She turned, staring into the heart of the Rift flare, golden and bright and somehow warmer than the Light had ever made her feel, and Aderyn smiled.

Jack watched her fade away, tendrils of Light still searching for some refuge, some vestige of escape. They brushed his skin and dissipated long with the Rift flare. The gold shimmer faded. Jack bent down to pick up the strongbox that had held the Light's pod, and he paused, eyes catching a tiny object discarded in the leaf mould.

It was an engagement ring.

**-fin-**


End file.
